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Ethiopian troops enter Somalia BY JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

Witnesses along the drought-stricken Ethiopia-Somalia border have reported that hundreds of Ethiopian troops have crossed intoSomalia with armored personnel carriers, heavy artillery and tanks, opening a new front in an intensifying international offensive against the Shabab militant group.

The Islamist insurgents of the Shabab are already battling Kenyan forces in southernSomaliaand African Union peacekeepers in the Somalian capital,Mogadishu.

So far the reaction among Somalis, though, has been the polar opposite of what happened a few years ago, when Ethiopian troops invadedSomaliain 2006 and occupied the country for about two years, turning the population against them and fueling the rise of the Shabab.

This time, many Somalis say they welcome anyone who can get the Shabab out, even their historic enemy, the Ethiopians.

“What we need right now is only peace, and we don`t care about the identity of the peacemakers,” Abdulle Ismail, a resident in the town ofGuriel, said Sunday.

The Shabab have been terrorizing much ofSomaliafor years, instituting a harsh form of Islamic law in the territory they control and blocking Western aid groups from working in their areas during a time of famine. But the Shabab are stretched very thin, with three of their major strongholds in the cross hairs of opposing forces.

African Union peacekeepers have been hammering the neighborhood of Deynile, the last Shabab outpost inMogadishu, for weeks. Kenyan forces are slowly but steadily advancing toward theportofKismaayo, a source of millions of dollars of port fees for the Shabab and possibly their most strategically important city. And it appears that the Ethiopians are headed to Baidoa, a large city that is home to hundreds of Shabab fighters not far from the Ethiopian border.

The injection of Ethiopian troops is a risky move, Western officials say, because of the historic enmity betweenEthiopia, a Christian-led nation, andSomalia, which is almost purely Muslim. The neighbors have clashed repeatedly sinceSomaliabecame independent in 1960, and in 2006 Ethiopian forces ousted an Islamist movement that controlled much of southernSomalia.

Last week, African Union officials said they were considering adding Ethiopian troops to the 9,000 peacekeepers inSomalia, who have taken heavy casualties recently.

But theU.S.government, a close ally ofEthiopia, seems divided over the wisdom of this. OneU.S.official said some diplomats in the State Department are strongly against the Ethiopians jumping intoSomaliaagain, while the Pentagon and the C.I.A. seem to support it.

“The feeling is that the Ethiopians have the muscle, and the Kenyans don`t,” said the official, who spoke anonymously because of the delicacy of the topic. “But it would be much better for the Ethiopians to back these operations discreetly, maybe with air power and logistics, and not to storm in.”

ThoughEthiopiais one of the poorest countries on earth, it has one of the largest armies inAfrica.

InWashington, military and intelligence officials were monitoring the news reports about the Ethiopian incursion but could not independently verify the offensive. A senior Defense Department official said it was too soon to tell whether the Ethiopian military action would weaken the Shabab further or hand the insurgents a propaganda boost.

A senior official with the Somalian transitional government, a weak and unpopular entity that survives purely on outside support, said last week that the Somalian president, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, did not want Ethiopian troops insideSomalia, but that he was powerless to oppose them.

Residents in impoverished villages along the Ethiopia-Somalia border said Sunday that in the previous 24 hours, about 800 Ethiopian troops had crossed into Somalia, towing heavy weaponry, and that they had begun to build small bases and work with a local militia.

“Brother, let the Ethiopians come because when the drought engulfed us, the Shabab prevented all kinds of assistance from reaching us,” said Leelo Ahmed, a mother of four children, living in the city ofBeledweyne.

According to news services, Ethiopian officials publicly denied that any Ethiopian troops had enteredSomalia, though some officials privately acknowledged that this was the case.

Kenya and Ethiopia blame Somalia`s instability for hampering their own economic development, and both countries consider the Shabab, who have pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda, to be a regional threat. Yet analysts say the countries may have ulterior motives and are intervening inSomaliato install their own proxy forces who will then serve the interests ofKenyaandEthiopia.

Analysts say the key to whether the Ethiopian incursion will work depends on how long the Ethiopians stay — and what exactly they do.

“As long as the army acts with some restraint, and as long as the U.S. is careful not to back the incursion (or give the appearance of backing it), the blowback in the central regions would probably be quite limited,” said Bronwyn E. Bruton, a democracy and governance expert who wrote a provocative essay published by the Council on Foreign Relations urging the West to withdraw from Somalia.

She added that had the Ethiopians avoided a “stupid two-year occupation ofMogadishu” in 2007 and 2008, the Shabab would not have been able to capitalize on the anti-Ethiopian feelings and go on to seize power in many parts of the country.

Al-Shabaab rebels flee as Ethiopians move in
Daily Star
November 22, 2011

Beirut–MOGADISHU: Al-Shabaab militants have begun pulling out of at least two rebel enclaves in centralSomaliaafter neighboringEthiopiadispatched hundreds of troops across the border, residents said Monday.

Addis Ababadenied Sunday that its forces had yet enteredSomalia, but local residents and elders said scores of Ethiopian vehicles ferrying troops and weapons moved at least 80 kilometers into the Horn of Africa country over the weekend.

Local people in Beledweyne and Ceelbuur, both close to the Ethiopian frontier and under insurgent control, said the Islamist fighters had abandoned checkpoints where they used to extort taxes and left their battle stations.

“I saw a convoy of Al-Shabaab troops vacating the front lines,” said a resident of Ceelbuur, who identified himself only as Ahmad. “I don`t know where [the fighters] are headed, but they aren`t in the town any longer.”

An Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman said a decision on whether to join the assault against Al-Shabaab in some form would be taken Friday at a meeting of east African heads of state.

However, the residents said the Ethiopian military had already arrived, five weeks afterKenyalaunched an operation to crush the Al-Qaeda-linked militants.

The disappearance of Al-Shabaab fighters from zones close to where Ethiopian troops were stationed does not necessarily signify an all-out retreat.

Many rebels appeared to melt away into the local population whenKenyasent hundreds of ground troops into southernSomalialast month and began an early wave of airstrikes against the militants it blames for a wave of kidnappings on its soil.

Since then they appear to have re-grouped, engaging Kenyan troops in hit-and-run attacks that, together with heavy rains, have hampered the Kenyan advance on rebel bases.

The last timeEthiopiaenteredSomaliawas in December 2006, with tacitU.S.backing and at the invitation of a Somali government that had lost control of large swathes of the country, including the capital, to another Islamist group.

They left in early 2009 after ousting that group, winning backing in some corners of the country, but inspiring considerable support among others for its offshoot, Al-Shabaab.

In Ceelbuur, the Ethiopians are widely seen as liberators. “Al-Shabaab call for holy war, but they start running when they hearEthiopia,” resident Ahmad said.

“Now we don`t see a lot of Al-Shabaab fighters in the town. I am sure they are preparing to run away when the Ethiopian troops close in on the town,” said Faduma Hassan, a resident in Beledweyne, about 30 kilometers from the border.

Al-Shabaab, which is fighting to impose a harsh interpretation of Shariah law on the nation, welcomed Sunday Ethiopia`s apparent incursion as a sign that the Kenyan military campaign was failing to dismantle the rebel network.

In Baidoa, about 250 kilometers northwest of the capitalMogadishu, Al-Shabaab issued a rallying cry for holy war.

“Al-Shabaab took to the streets with loud speakers and urged us to prepare for Jihad,” said Ali, a Baidoa resident. “They have been warning us not to spy for the Ethiopians or for the government,” he added.

Eritreahas complained to the United Nations Security Council Monday about Kenyan allegations that it sent weapons to Islamist rebels inSomalia, calling for an independent investigation to judge the dispute.

Foreign Minister Osman Saleh said in a letter to the Council that Eritrea was confident an investigation would find Nairobi`s “defamatory” accusations to be baseless, and urged the United Nations to take action against Kenya in the dispute.

Nairobihas accusedEritreaof flying in weapons for Al-Shabaab.

“If, as Eritrea confidently believes, the investigation determines that there is no basis whatsoever to the very serious and harmful accusations by the government of Kenya, Eritrea calls on the Security Council to take action that would redress the injustice suffered by the people and government of Eritrea,” Saleh wrote in the letter which was seen by Reuters.

“Defamation of a member state of the United Nations should not be indulged in with impunity and must not be tolerated, given its negative implications for regional peace and security,” he said in the letter, dated Nov. 16.

Ethiopia`s Defence Move Justifiable – Somali Ambassador
December 24, 2006

Somalia`s ambassador to Ethiopia Abdikarin Farah addresses a news conference in Addis Ababa March 30, 2007. REUTERS

ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) — Somali Ambassador to Ethiopia Abdikarin Farah warned here Sunday that the war inSomalia is likely to spill out of the Horn of Africa country.

“The war is no longer the war ofSomalia, there is a great possibility of spreading across the region,” he told journalists.

The ambassador of Somalia`s Transitional Federal Government ( TFG) justified Ethiopia`s measures against TFG`s powerful rival the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), also known as the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts (SCIC), saying “Whatever action Ethiopia takes against the UIC is justifiable because Ethiopia has an obligation to defend its people.Ethiopiahas to defend the integrity of its people.”

On Sunday, the Ethiopian military confirmed they have launched a counterattack against the UIC inSomalia, saying that their patience “has been exhausted.”

The offensive was launched on UIC positions at Buur Hakaba, Beledweyne, Bandiiradleey and Dinsoor localities inSomalia, according to a statement from the Ethiopian military.

According to reports reaching here fromSomalia, witnesses said that Ethiopian fighter jets bombed several areas in centralSomaliacontrolled by the SCIC.

Abdikarin said the UIC is currently calling world Muslims for help in a bid to make the war appear like between Muslims and Christians.

Abdikarin said the UIC, who attempted to march towards Baidoa, where the weak but United Nations-backed TFG is based, are now saying they are fighting against Ethiopians, in order to garner support from the people ofSomalia.

As a neighboring country and part of the international community,Ethiopiais responsible and obliged to assist the legally formed TFG, he said.

The ambassador said there is still room to resolve the issue peacefully. However, he said he didn`t believe that the UIC, which controls much of the south and central of the lawless nation, is ready to come to the negotiating table.

Outgoing Somali ambassador hails Ethiopian role in his country
BBC Monitoring Africa
September 28, 2007

Addis Ababa, 27 September: Had it not been the support and advice of the Ethiopian government and its people, the case inSomalia would have been worsened, formerSomalia ambassador toEthiopia, Abdikarim Farah said.

Ambassador Abdikarim Farah, who is also Permanent Representative ofSomaliato the African Union, said the people and the government ofEthiopiahave helped the political and social transformation inSomalia.

Citizens ofSomaliasuffered a lot from civil war and forced to lead a miserable life at home and outside, according to the ambassador.

In his best wishes message sent to the `Ethiopian Herald` on 22 Sep. 2007 in connection with the Ethiopian millennium celebrations, Ambassador Farah saidEthiopiais genuinely determined to share the burden of the crisis inSomaliaand to bring some kind of solutions to the crisis.

Ambassador Farah appreciated the people and government of Ethiopia who have hosted hundreds and thousands of Somalis during those challenging moments as good a neighbour by saying, “ a neighbour in need, a neighbour in deed”.

The ambassador said besides assisting the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), the Ethiopian government is offering to Somalia drew positive lessons from the government`s policies and directions.

The ambassador conveyed best wishes to the government ofEthiopiaand its people at home and abroad that the future to be a moments of peace, development, democratic, and prosperous years.

Ethiopiahas been perusing a number of sound policies and strategies that could extricate its people out of poverty and backwardness, the ambassador said, adding the country is such a magnificent nation with unique history and culture.

The ambassador expressed his belief that the Ethiopian government and its people would acquire what they have been aspiring for, making nation one of the middle-income countries.

Text of report in English by state-owned Ethiopian news agency ENA website

Somali envoy says rights group`s allegation against Ethiopia “baseless”
BBC Monitoring Africa
May 10, 2008

Addis Ababa, 10 May: Somali Ambassador toSouth Africa, Ambassador Abdikarim Farah, said the recent report issued by Amnesty International regarding Ethiopian troops inSomalia is ridiculous and baseless.

The ambassador told WIC [Walta Information Centre] while in a brief stop over here that Ethiopian troops in collaboration with TFG forces want to bring law and order in Somalia and don`t instigate any war in that country. Rather they are making tremendous efforts to foster the revival of peace and order in the country, the ambassador stated.

“The parts that hit and run, shelling the people indiscriminately and forcing the people outside of their country and houses should shoulder the responsibility. Those who are committing genocide and creating instability in the country should be condemned and brought to justice,” he added.

Ambassador Farah, however, stressed that such biased report puts no damper in the efforts to bring peace and stability inSomalia.

With regard to the current situation inSomalia, he said the political situation inSomaliahas been making progress gradually.

The security condition inSomaliahas reportedly been showing improvement much better than the previous times, according to him.

The TFG of Somalia,Ethiopia, the international community, the Africa Union and other peace loving countries are also playing their part towards curtailing rarely observed problems, Ambassador Farah said.

As to the humanitarian situations inSomalia, the ambassador said that the problem is not only due to the failure of the Somali people but also that of the international community.

He thus called upon the international community to assist those people who are displaced.

Source: Walta Information Centre website,Addis Ababa, in English 10 May 08

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed vow long-term war with Ethiopia
December 26, 2006

Somali Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed (C), flanked by Sheikh Yusuf Indho-adde (L) and Sheikh Abdulkadir Ali Omar (R), address a news conference at Villa Somalia, former presidential palace in the capital Mogadishu, October 9, 2006. REUTERS

MOGADISHU, Dec 26, 2006 (AFP) – Somalia`s Islamist movement on Tuesday vowed to wage a long-term war against Ethiopian forces backing the embattled Somali government, after Islamist fighters retreated from several frontline positions.

“We are ready to start long-lasting war with Ethiopia,” Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the head of the Islamist executive committee told a press conference, a day after Ethiopian warplanes supporting Somalia`s weak transition government struck two airports in Islamist-held Mogadishu.

“You know that the Ethiopian invaders have started using extra power and bombing downSomalia, we have changed our military tactic” in the lawless east African nation, he explained.

“We are in a new stage of resistance. The enemy has started using air forces. Since we don`t have heavy weapons to defend ourselves in this full-scale attack by the Meles forces, we have decided to change our tactics,” he added, referring to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

Heavy fighting began on December 20 after the expiry of an ultimatum by the Islamists for Ethiopia to pull its troops out of Somalia, heightening fears of a conflict that could draw in Ethiopia`s foe, Eritrea.

Addis Ababahas accused the Islamists, who control large swathes of the lawless east African nation, of threatening the security of neighbouringEthiopia.

Ahmed spoke as the Islamist forces retreated from several frontlines in Dinsoor and Burhakaba, south and east of the Somali government base of Baidoa some 250 kilometres (155 miles) north of the capital, and another position in the central region.

But the government urged the Islamists to surrender, promising them an amnesty.

“We strongly appeal to the Islamic courts to put down arms because the government has made a decision to give them complete amnesty,” government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari told AFP.

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed Vows To Still Fight Vs Ethiopia
December 29, 2006

Somalia`s Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (C), the chairman of the Islamic Courts Union, his deputies Abdi Rahman Mohamud (L) and Abdulkadir Ali (R) attend a meeting with the African Union (AU) and the Arab League delegation in Somalia`s capital Mogadishu, July 6, 2006.

KISMAYO, Somalia (AP)–The leader of Somalia`s Islamist movement vowed Friday to continue the fight against Ethiopia, which lent key military support to the government in a campaign that saw the Islamist militia retreat from the capital a day earlier.

“We will not leaveSomalia,” Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the executive leader of the Council of Islamic Courts, told The Associated Press. “We will not run away from our enemies.”

He spoke in the southern coastalportofKismayo, about 500 kilometers south of the capital, where his forces retreated after abandoningMogadishu.

The Islamist movement had taken control of much of southernSomalia, often without fighting, after defeating a coalition of warlords to captureMogadishuin June. But its fighters collapsed when Ethiopia, which has the most powerful army in the region, sent reinforcements across the border to help Somalia`s internationally recognized government.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi had vowed Thursday to crush fighters he described as extremists in the Islamist movement and their foreign allies, predicting it would take a few weeks longer.

Ahmed`s movement had pledged to bring Quranic law to Somalia, and some of its members espoused a militant form of Islam. TheU.S.accuses the movement of harboring al-Qaida members.

Top Islamic leader in Somalia has turned himself in, officials say
By CHRIS TOMLINSON
Associated Press Writer
January 22, 2007

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – A top leader of Somalia`s ousted Islamic movement, apparently afraid for his life now that the once-powerful militia has been chased into hiding, has surrendered and is in custody in neighboring Kenya, officials said Monday.

Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, considered a moderate member of the Council of Islamic Courts, went to a Kenyan police station along the Somali border Sunday and was flown toNairobi, according to a police report seen by The Associated Press. AU.S.diplomat said last week that Ahmed could play a role in reconciling Somali factions.

If Ahmed agrees to hold talks with Somalia`s government, it could be a major step toward preventing the widespread insurgency that many Islamic leaders have threatened in Somalia. Ahmed is not believed to be wanted by the authorities, like other members of the Islamic group.

TheUnited Statessaid it was not involved in protecting Ahmed, whose whereabouts inNairobiwere not known. InSomalia, the remnants of the Islamic courts are being hunted by Ethiopian troops and Somali government forces.

“TheU.S.government is not holding or interrogating Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed and was not involved in his capture or surrender,” a U.S. Embassy official said, reading from a statement.

U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger has said Ahmed is a moderate Islamic leader who theUnited Statesbelieves should be part of a national reconciliation process inSomalia. Ahmed was the chairman of the Executive Council of Islamic Courts and shared the leadership with Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, who was chairman of the court`s legislative council.

Aweys is on aU.S.list of people with suspected ties to al-Qaida, though he has repeatedly denied having ties to international terrorists.

Somali troops, with crucial aid from neighboringEthiopia, drove the Council of Islamic Courts out of the capital and much of southernSomalialast month. But violence has been breaking out due to traditional clan rivalries and resentment among Somalis over the presence ofEthiopia.

Somalia, a Muslim country, andEthiopia, with its large Christian population, fought a brutal war in 1977.

Islamic officials in hiding have also threatened to launch an Iraq-style guerrilla war.

On Monday, witnesses said Ethiopian troops killed three civilians in the capital`s Hurwa district, considered a hotbed of sympathizers for the Islamic movement.

The troops were firing at several gunmen who were trying to hide in a house, but hit the civilians instead, said Mustaf Hassan Ali, who saw the shooting.

The government has invited African peacekeepers to help provide security inSomalia, but they are unlikely to come if fighting continues.

Malawi`s defense minister said his southern African country would contribute a full or half battalion to a Somali peacekeeping mission, depending on what other countries do.

On Friday, the African Union Peace and Security Council approved a plan to send about 8,000 African peacekeepers, including nine infantry battalions, toSomaliafor a six-month mission that would eventually be taken over by the U.N. The council said the initial deployment should have at least three battalions.

So far, only one other country,Uganda, has volunteered troops. Uganda`s ruling party approved the deployment of 1,500 troops — almost two battalions — last week, but parliament must approve the plan.

Also Monday, the European Union urged Somalia`s government to hold talks with other factions, including moderate Islamist leaders, to find a lasting peace settlement.

EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel said failure to hold “inclusive talks” with all other political factions, would sink efforts to stabilize the impoverished country. “It is the only way to get long-term stability and peace inSomalia,” he told reporters.

Somaliahas been without an effective government since 1991, when warlords overthrew a dictator and turned on each other. The government was formed two years ago with the help of the United Nations, but was weakened by internal rifts.

The intervention ofEthiopiaprompted a military advance that was a stunning turnaround for the administration, which is struggling to assert control.

Associated Press writers Mohamed Olad Hassan and Salad Duhul contributed to this report fromMogadishu,Somalia.

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source B/kulule.com

Ethiopian troops enter Somalia BY JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

Fikrad Ka Dhiibo

Wararka Cusub